US identifies two Trinidadian nationals as financiers of ISIS

The United States has named two Trinidad and Tobago nationals as financiers of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“While coalition efforts have led to the collapse of ISIS’s self-declared caliphate, Treasury continues to aggressively target financiers supporting ISIS’s radical agenda. We are sanctioning individuals involved in financial facilitation to obstruct and deter ISIS financial operations in regions across the world,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

“Our actions coincide with the 10th meeting of the Counter-ISIS Finance Group (CIFG), which includes 52 countries and international organizations committed to disrupting critical sources of ISIS revenue to permanently prevent ISIS from accessing the international financial system.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) named Emraan Ali and Eddie Aleong as those assisting in financing the operations of the terrorist group.

It said in the case of Ali, it said the Syria-based, dual U.S. and Trinidadian national was designated for acting for or on behalf of ISIS.

“Ali has been involved in money transfers from Trinidad and Tobago to Syria in support of ISIS. As of January 2017, Ali would receive and provide funds to Trinidadian ISIS fighters. For several years, a number of citizens of Trinidad and Tobago in Syria received money transfers through Ali. In the summer of 2015, Ali lived at an ISIS guest house in Syria and had been assigned to Raqqah, Syria,” it said.

OFAC said that Aleong was designated for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of ISIS.

“As of March 2018, Trinidad-based Aleong facilitated money transfers to ISIS members in ISIS-controlled territory. As of January 2017, a Trinidadian ISIS supporter possibly planned to work with Eddie Aleong, to transfer funds to Emraan Ali, who would then provide the funds to Trinidadian ISIS fighters in Syria.”

The Treasury Department said that the designations are part of the broader United States government’s ongoing and concerted efforts to disrupt ISIS-related financial activities around the globe.

It said throughout 2018, the Departments of the Treasury and State targeted ISIS branches, facilitators, and networks in Bangladesh, Iraq, Somalia, the Philippines, and across West and North Africa.

“The U.S. government will continue taking disruptive action to prevent ISIS from exploiting the financial system to fund its operations,” it said adding that as a result of the action “all property and interests in property of these persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them”.